Cable support



niteci 2',s9s,1"9s CABLE SUPPORT Application October 11, 1955, Serial No. 539,716 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-20) v This invention relates to an improved metal band of the kind used for binding articles together in parallel mutual contact by tightly looping it about the articles in single or multiple ply, including means for locking the band in looped position.

Such bands consist of pliant inelastic metallic strapping of a gauge enough to permit easy manual bendin and Working. Commonly the strapping is supplied as material in ribbon form by the mill to the manufacturer, in reels of great length, the factory then cutting the material into straps of the required length and finally forming the straps into usable commodities.

The material of the straps or bands may be of any suitable non-corrosive metal such as stainless steel, zinc, brass, copper or aluminum. The ultimate consumers are chiefly industry and public utilities, and the bands in serviceable form are commonly supplied to the consumer b th p o i ac y- In practice the bands are wrapped or looped once or a few times, usually twice, about the articles which are to be bound together. All previously known binding appliances of the class specified which can be formed from ribbon or strip are provided at the starting end with a locking device which originally was not a component portion of the band, usually a form of wire buckle or bar, The led end or tongue of the band, after wrapping, was trained through the buckle and thereafter folded back on itself, the crease of the fold engaging the buckle or bar and locking the hand against unwinding. Other bands have a slotted enlarged head, having a slot or eye, but these must be blanked out of sheet, and consequently there is a high degree of waste.

Specifically the present invention consists of a binding band in which the locking device is an integral part of the strap, that is, it is formed as one from the material of the strapping or ribbon, and is not a component applied to the band as, for instance, a buckle or link; nor is it an enlargement of the strap itself.

All these previous forms of band in some manner are objectionable, principally because the led end or tongue portion of the band has to be trained or threaded through an opening of some kind once for each convol tio of the pp A typical current use for these bands and probably the most common of all, is that of binding clad multiple conductor cables to a supporting or messenger wire, particularly in short runs where it is not economical to lash these supported and supporting members together. The bands are applied principally at conductor take-off points along the span of the messenger, but obviously may also be used at mid-span intervals if and when it is expedient.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a band, including its locking portion or head, which is made by cutting a piece of the required length from a ribbon or strip, then forming the lock by first slitting the piece from one end and finally shaping the divided portions into certain jaws which are to be pressed from an open position to a closed position when the device is put to its ultimate use. In short the object is to provide a locking device for a binding band which is formed wholly from the supplied material of the strap or ribbon without adding anything.

Another important object is to binding bands of the class specified.

A third important object is to provide economy in such bands.

These, together with other objects which may later appear, may be attained by the structure, including such species as are applicable and generically as well as specifically claimed may be attained by the arrangement and fabrication of the parts as will be particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Referring now to the drawing:

Figures 1,-6, inclusive, are illustrative of one species; Figures 7-10, are of a second species; and Figures 11-1-15, a third.

Figure 16 is a cross-sectional view, on a reduced scale, of two articles bound together by the invention, showing a side elevation of (broadly speaking), any of the species of the invention.

Figure 17 is an elevation of Figure 16 taken on the angle indicated by the arrow in that figure.

Figure 18 is an enlarged face view or elevation of the band (any species) in its effective position, shown with the tongue partially broken away.

Figure 19 is a front face view of a modified form of the second species.

More particularly:

FIRST SPECIES Figure 1 is a front face view of the band in ineffective position showing a certain slit and folding lines in dot-and-dash,

Figure 2 is a front face view showing certain fingers folded to outstretched position during forming.

Figure 3 is an end view of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a front view similar to Figure 2 showing the fingers folded to form jaws. Here is the product.

Figure 5 is an end View of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of Figure 4.

SECOND SPECIES Figures 7-10, inclusive, agree with Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the first species.

THIRD SPECIES Figures 11-15, inclusive, the first species.

generally improve on agree with Figures rl-S of The product The invention consists of the pliant inelastic metallic band 10 and a pair of integral homogeneous lateral jaws 12 at one end of the band, the end of the band having the jaws being termed the starting end. The jaws stand substantially parallel with each other and substantially at right angles to the faces of the band. They are spaced so that the distance between their inner faces substantially equals the breadth of the band. In other Words, they are offset from the face of the band.

The band consists of a piece or length cut transversely from a strip, sometimes called strapping or ribbon, and which is supplied to the producer of the bands in reels of great length. The lengths or cuts of the material to form the bands is determined by their intended use, that is, the combined girth of the articles which are to be bound together, plus the number of convolutions in the wrapping in excess of the first, plus an excess from which the jaws are later to be formed, and an excess to provide for a certain tongue of later use.

The foregoing is a complete description of the product, and is common to all the species, the latter being different only in the steps and manner of bending certain portions of the material to form the outstanding jaws. The band, or product, as it has been termed, is seen in Figures 4,' 5, 6, 9, 10, 14 and 15. In these views the band is ausuable product, :but is not in use.

Use

run from the crotch obliquely into the body of the band, while those of the second run obliquely into the fingers. Further, in the second and third species there is a transverse line 19, not present in the first species, which touches on the crotch of the fingers. In all the species the fingers, after folding, lie with the portions later to become the jaws outstretched, and before they are bent at right angles on the lines 18, to finally form the jaws.

Three species are here shown as an example of folding the fingers, it being understood that there could be other methods of folding which may later appear and which are not here disclosed.

In the first illustrated species the fingers are folded to outstretched position by bending them on the oblique not become a tongue until it has been turned over the folded jaws. In the product the tongue is merely a portion of the band and is indistinguishable as such.

- The band is shown in use in Figures 16 and 17. Here, as an example, isshown the representation of a messenger wire'14 and a clad multiple conductor cable 15 wrappedtogether by the band 10. The band is shown in two convoluted ply, that is, double ply, the usual number. The double ply is used rather than single because of strength, and also the snubbing effect attained thereby.

All the convolutions, whether there be only one or more than two, are embraced by the jaws 12 while they are open, When the last convolution is led between the open jaws, and the band drawn up tight, the jaws are folded snugly across the face of the portion of the last ply of the band lying between them, subsequently to which the tongue, or now free portion of the band, is bent or hooked across the faces of the folded jaws and finally pressed snugly against the face of the outermost ply of the band. The bond between the articles is then complete. Here again, species or form is immaterial.

Forming the jaws The first step in forming the jaws 12 is common to all the species. This step consists of medianaly slitting the'band lengthwise to a distance in from .the starting end, whereby a pair of parallel fingers 16 is formed. The fingers are then bent and folded to form the jaws. The method of folding the fingers is all that distinguishes the species. The beginning, the slitting of the band, is common to all, and the result, the outstanding jaws, is functionally identical.

Also common to all the species are certain imaginary lines, shown in dot-and-dash form, at which the material is folded or creased. Each of the species is folded on a pair of divergent oblique lines 17 running from the crotch of the fingers to the edges of thernaterial, and each finger of each species is bent substantially at right angles on transverse lines 18 at an approximately midlength point. From this point to the tips of the fingers are the portions of the fingers which finally become the jaws 16.

The lines 17 of the first and third species, however,

lines 17 each in an opposite direction, so that one finger lies folded flatly across a portion of one face of the band body, while the other is similarly folded across the opposite face.

In the second illustrated species the fingers are folded to outstretched position by bending both of them back in the same direction on the lines 17 so that both lie folded flatly on a common plane across like portions of themselves.

The second species may be modified, if desired, by folding the structure of Figure 8 backwards on itself on the line 19 so that the outstretched fingers are facially reversed and lie flatly on a common plane partially across the rear face of the band, as seen in Figure 19.

In the third illustrated species the fingers are folded to outstretched position by bending both of them in one direction on the lines 17 and in the opposite direction on the line 19 so that angular pleats 20 are formed in the fingers, the pleated portions lying flatly together on common planes across a face of the band.

I claim:

A clamping band of the class described comprising a strip of metallic ribbon-like material of uniform width throughout its entire length adapted to be looped convolutely around a plurality of articles, said band having one end plain, and there being a slot formed lengthwise of the material and extending inwardly from the opposite end along the centerline of the band and terminating at a crotch located a predetermined distance inward- 1y from the said opposite end of the material to thereby provide a pair of similarly shaped portions at said opposite end of the band, the longitudinal side edges of said similarly shaped end portions aligning with the longitudinal side edges of the material whereby said similarly shaped end portions are arranged to be folded at said crotch to provide a pair of jaws which extend laterally in opposite directions from the side edges of the material in position to be bent over the looped portion of the band after the band has been convolutely looped around the articles so as to lock the plain end portion in position on the looped band.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,084,407 Deist Jan. 13, 1914 1,177,500 Dolson Mar. 28, 1916 1,230,019 Patton June 12, 1917 2,293,509 Leslie Aug. 18, 1942 

